I was wondering if anyone can tell me the embarkation process and answer a few questions.
Do we have to "check" our luggage or can we carry it on to the ship if we want?
When we board the ship, will we be able to go straight to our room to put our stuff down and settle in a bit?

I was wondering if anyone can tell me the embarkation process and answer a few questions.
Do we have to "check" our luggage or can we carry it on to the ship if we want?
When we board the ship, will we be able to go straight to our room to put our stuff down and settle in a bit?

At embarkation you can only carry one luggage which will fit in an airport style X ray machine. Anything larger needs to be checked with porters, but you can be assured it will be delivered to your cabin a bit later.

You can carry off your luggage at the end of the cruise IF you can manage ALL of it without any assistance. And if you choose that option, you're first off, by around 7:30 AM. And that will only continue for about 20 minutes.

As to whether you can go straight to the cabin, that would depend on your arrival time. If you arrive after 1: 30 PM , yes your cabin will be ready. If you arrive much before that, you'll have to kill some time until the cabins are ready for new occupants.

OK, different ports have different policies as far as checking in luggage. As a rule you can tip a porter to take your bags right away or handle them yourself (up to 2 hours) before getting to the check-in desk.

You can take as many carry ons you want. But you have to be able to handle them yourself and be small enough to be able to be a carry on an airplane.

GOLDEN RULE-always use at least one carry-on. All medication, travel documentations, any jewelry of value, anything delicate and a change of underwear-one shirt-swim suit.

At embarkation, you get your cabin key card and go on the ship. It is possible that your cabin has not been cleaned completely. If so, your steward is in the area and will see you very shortly. Very small stuff can go in the safe. Carry ons can go under the bed or just somewhere out of the way. Believe it or not your items are safer in a wide open cruise cabin that at home behind locked doors. Anyway, you will find your cabin is for sleeping and changing of clothes. Unless you have a full suite or larger, it will take you all of 5 minutes to explore your cabin.

In all our cruises, a couple of bags have gotten to our cabin before us. The vast majority are an hour or two behind us. One cruise out of San Francisco, one large bag showed up 7 hours after we got on board.

If you want to go swimming, that swimsuit is in your carry-on. Spill that fruity-foofoo drink on yourself before dinner, don’t worry. Clean shirt in the carry-on. The underwear, figure that one out yourself.

Get on board, meet your steward and dump your bags. Explore your ship and get into “cruise mode” as fast as possible.